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Keryl Douglas’ Facebook Adventures

Keryl Douglas, candidate for Mayor of Houston and former unsuccessful candidate for Chair of the Harris County Democratic Party, has made her thoughts on a very pressing issue –the impetus of her campaign– known to a very public audience.

The campaign of Douglas has been running oddly low-key until last evening. Before September 4th, Douglas had made a mere single post since announcing her campaign in early July. Similarly, her Twitter account has remained idle for a comparable length of time. The Douglas campaign’s website is still nothing more than a shell.

Yesterday, in the early afternoon, I posted a status noting Annise Parker’s endorsement by the Public Employees’ Union on my personal Facebook account. Shortly thereafter, Douglas commented on the past with a statement as follows:

Lets not follow examples of Illinois and Louisiana and elect Houston officials, e.g. Mayor, who’ll soon end up in prison for corruption (check into the past conduct!) Google, research… there was an interesting Houston Press article…

—Keryl Douglas, September 4th

A few hours later, Douglas again commented on my profile, this time targeting the Texpatriate article on the same topic I earlier noted. She commented again on my personal profile, after I shared the link to the article from Texpatriate’s article:

I truly believe, with great reason, one of the worst potential outcomes for Houston would be an election of Benjamin Hall III as Mayor.

–Keryl Douglas, September 4th

To this comment, I simply responded with “I would like to know more about your thoughts on the matter. Please, continue…” Douglas then did continue with her longest comments yet:

Did you research his conduct while serving as City Attorney and the real reason for his early exit? The relevant Houston Press article provides great reasons for concern and caution. Google it and consider. If true, what on earth would his conduct be with the power of the office of Mayor at his disposal, and what ruin of Houston might such potentially lead to? We are a great and growing City. Too much potential to risk. BTW, where is the former Mayor of Detroit these days?

–Keryl Douglas, September 4th

The comments that Douglas made on the initial status were somewhat more veiled, but were simple insinuations towards Hall. If it was not abundantly clear enough, Douglas made the unequivocal allegation against Hall in her second round of comments.

In response to the somewhat bizarre references made by Douglas, those popping out are most significantly the throwback to Illinois & Louisiana, two tremendously corrupt States. Further, Douglas specifically refers to the former Mayor of Detroit –Kwame Kilpatrick– who was recently convicted of 24 counts of racketeering, extortion, mail fraud and tax evasion.

The Houston Press article that Douglas mentions on multiple occasions is entitled “Boss Hall,” from 1994 and notes the challenges to Hall’s ethics he faced when departing from the City Attorney’s office. The article was been on the radar of the Parker campaign for awhile now, but has rarely seen any attempt for escalation. From what I understood reading the article, the allegations point to some ethical brushes for Hall, but nothing that is a serious breach of the law–especially one deserving of prison time.

It has been no secret that Douglas bears some disdain towards Hall, but this is the first time she has made these allegations to a public audience in a public forum. The charge of corruption is a very serious allegation to make on Douglas’ part, she needs to have additional proof if she is to continue being taken seriously.

Some candidates run for office so that they may win, some simply to make a point. Some run to help another win, but many run to prevent an incumbent from winning. This may be the first time I have heard of a candidate running for public office in an effort to specifically sabotage the efforts of a fellow challenger candidate.